(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Steve Eaton will be Cherokee Trail’s next baseball coach.
Cougars athletic director Steve Carpenter announced the hire on Tuesday, saying, “I think our goals matched up big time.”
Eaton will take over for Allan Dyer, who announced his retirement last month.
“Allan Dyer, in my mind, did it better than anybody has done it around here,” Eaton said on Tuesday. “The most professionally-run organization, probably the biggest. It’s IBM compared to what I’ve had. I don’t think anybody can do it like that, and I don’t intend to, because I’ve got to do it my way.
“Allan and I are close friends, I love him, I appreciate what he’s built, and I appreciate the fact that he’s kind of given me the keys to this kingdom.”
Eaton has 21 years of experience as a high school coach, including 10 seasons at Gateway and 11 at Chaparral. When he stepped away from Chaparral in 2008, he owned a career record of 326-125-1.
“I became a fan, and I became a full-time dad,” Eaton said of leaving coaching back then. “And I think this is probably one of the biggest reasons I wanted to come back: I wanted to do it better. I think we were pretty good at Gateway — we ended up with a top-10 team the last four years I was there. We were better at Chaparral, and we ended up with 10 top-10 teams in a row.
“I think my best work is still ahead, to tell you the truth, more because of my experience as a parent.”
Since 2008, Eaton has been working in private instruction, including a place of his own and most recently at Bardo’s Diamond Sports, and with Team Colorado.
“I miss kids,” Eaton said. “I miss having one team, and one school, and wearing the same colors and having kids for four years. That’s where I grew up with baseball.”
Carpenter said it was a challenge to find someone to take over for Dyer.
“You have someone like Allan Dyer, who has been at the head of that thing and created, obviously, a very successful program, been someone who has dedicated 11 1/2 months out of the year to baseball and set the standard,” Carpenter said. “We’re like, ‘Wow, it’s going to be hard to find anybody who’s going to be that committed, that dedicated, and have that level of integrity and character.’
“Steve, I think, has all of that. He has the experience.”
Cherokee Trail won the Class 5A championship in 2016 under Dyer. The Cougars went 8-11 this past spring, but have consistently been among the state’s best baseball programs since Dyer started it in 2003.
“This is a locomotive,” Eaton said.
Eaton said Cherokee Trail’s hiring and interview process “was awesome.”
“I think they got a great idea of me, and without going through the process with them, it probably wouldn’t have been as smooth as it was,” Eaton said. “I know there was a lot of good applicants, and I appreciate that they valued my experience.”